COMPUTE!

Compute!

The June 1987 issue, showing Laser Chess
Frequency	Monthly
Publisher	Small System Services (1979–1983) ABC Publishing (1983–1994)
First issue	Nov/Dec 1979
Final issue	Sep 1994
Country	United States
ISSN	0194-357X

Compute! (ISSN 0194-357X) was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's PET Gazette, one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET computer. In its 1980s heyday Compute! covered all major platforms, and several single-platform spinoffs of the magazine were launched. The most successful of these was Compute!'s Gazette, catering to VIC-20 and Commodore 64 computer users.

The magazine's original goal was to write about and publish programs for all of the computers that used some version of the MOS Technology 6502 CPU. It started out in 1979 with the Commodore PET, Commodore VIC-20, the Atari 8-bit series, the Apple II plus, and some 6502-based computers one could build from kits, such as the Rockwell AIM 65, the KIM-1 by MOS Technology, and others from companies such as Ohio Scientific. Support for the kit computers and the Commodore PET were eventually dropped. The platforms that became mainstays at the magazine were the Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit series, TI-99/4A, and the Apple II series. Later on the 6502 platform focus was dropped and IBM PC, Atari ST series, and the Commodore Amiga series computers were added to its line-up. It also published a successful line of computer books, many of which consisted of compilations of articles from the magazine.